UW-Stout students and parents are able to initiate online tuition payments with SVP using a consumer online bank account at U.S. Bank or any Secure Vault Payment-enabled financial institution.

With Secure Vault Payments, students or their parents initiate payments on a college or university web site and are automatically redirected to their own financial institution's online banking platform to select which account they wish to use for payment. They are then returned to the school's site, where they receive payment confirmation. Financial institutions authenticate the payer and immediately withdraw funds from the payer's account and transfer funds to the school's account the next business day.

The UW-Stout Business Services staff received positive feedback from students and parents who have already used Secure Vault Payments. Students and parents said they liked using SVP because they were able to pay directly from their own bank account, there were no convenience fees charged and they found it easy to make their payment.

In addition to providing students and parents a safe and easy online payment choice, Secure Vault Payments provides UW-Stout guaranteed payments and access to funds the next business day without storing payer financial information. The school expects SVP will reduce resource time and payment processing costs for tuition payments.

UW-Stout implemented Secure Vault Payments quickly and easily through its payment system provider, TouchNet Information Systems, Inc., which was already integrated into the SVP network. This made it possible for UW-Stout to offer SVP with minimal development and resources.

"U.S. Bank is committed to providing merchants and billers with innovative solutions to increase the efficiency of their payment collection and to enhance their customers' satisfaction," said Eric Lim, vice president and senior product manager for U.S. Bank Treasury Management. "We believe Secure Vault Payments provides compelling benefits as an online consumer payment option for many other industries including government, utilities and non-profits. We plan on launching Secure Vault Payments with other organizations later this year."

Secure Vault Payments was developed by NACHA — The Electronic Payments Association in an effort to reduce paper checks and increase use of the ACH Network. The Secure Vault Payments technology that transfers users between the biller's site and the financial institution's site is provided by eWise, the exclusive network provider for Secure Vault Payments.